Massive bank account opening drive kick started in Noida by realtors

Both real estate builders and factory owners so far have paid labourers and workers in cash. The demonetization drive is now pushing both categories of employers to transfer their payments systems to banks.Sharmila Bhowmick | TNN | November 30, 2016, 08:00 IST

File photoNOIDA: With payday here, and no avenue for handing over wages in cash, a massive drive to open bank accounts for construction workers has been flagged off on Tuesday morning in Noida by some builders. The city based industrialists are to follow suit over the next few days.

Both real estate builders and factory owners so far have paid labourers and workers in cash. The demonetization drive is now pushing both categories of employers to transfer their payments systems to banks.

At the construction site of ABA Corp, close to 4000 labourers queued up from 8:00am on Tuesday morning to open zero-balance bank accounts. The bank accounts at this location are being opened by Central Bank of India.

"We flagged off the drive this morning so that in the next few days all our labourers, who so far did not have bank accounts, may hold accounts so that we can transfer their salaries directly into their bank accounts. We do not want to hold on to people's salaries and we wish to disburse the payments as soon as people get their accounts," Director, ABA Corp, Amit Modi said. Modi who is also a the vice president, Credai, Western UP chapter, added that he would request all builders to start opening bank accounts for their labourers and bring all cash payments on to a banking platform.

"There is no need to pay wages in cash at all, as all labourers should be encouraged to open bank accounts," Modi added.

Some builders claimed that there has been no problem for paying labourers so far. "We were paying salaries via bank accounts anyway, so salaries will be transferred through bank accounts," Anil Sharma, MD, Amrapali group stated. Noida and Greater Noida presently have over 300 construction sites where work is in progress. Approximately 40-50,000 labourers could be engaged at construction work at the twin cities.

At the small and medium scale industries, the drive to open bank accounts is yet to start, but the process has been initiated. "We are now getting in touch with all the central banks and will soon host camps for labourers to open bank accounts, so we can transfer salaries. For those who already have bank accounts," Vipin Malhan, president, Noida Entrepreneurs Association, said. Noida's 9000 industrial units employ over 7 lakh labourers.

"This is a long drawn process and we are trying to locate nodal officers of banks who will help us put this in place. This is a sudden change in the system, and will take a while to transform the entire labour payments to a banking platform," Malhan added.